9-1-1 Center

The 9-1-1 Communication Center is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide the citizens of Chester County with emergency call receipt, interim assistance, response coordination and responder dispatch. The Communications Center staff handles over 900 emergency calls each day. The Center has a translation service for over 200 languages and is equipped to expeditiously handle calls from hearing impaired citizens.

The dispatchers in the 9-1-1 Communication Center receive training on how to notify and coordinate police, fire, rescue and ambulance responses in a variety of situations from routine to major disaster. Center telecommunicators are trained during a 5 week course, approved by PEMA, taught by instructors nationally certified by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO). Following rigorous academics, simulator training and extensive on-console instructions, telecommunicators are awarded nationally recognized APCO certification.

Supporting the dispatchers are sophisticated networks of computers and other telecommunications equipment providing links to the State Police, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), and other local and regional responder organizations. The operation of the 9-1-1 Center is coordinated with the Chester County Chiefs of Police Association, the Chester County Fire Chiefs Association and the Chester County Emergency Medical Services Council, Inc.